Learn how DroneCorps is empowering people from all walks of life to obtain their pilots license by using Apprentix’s apprenticeship management software.
DroneCorps is an unmanned licensed vehicle training program based in Salado, Texas. Its mission is to empower people from all walks of life to obtain their remote pilot's license and reach new heights in their careers.
Though military operations have been using unmanned aerial vehicles and drones for decades, it wasn’t until hobby drones became a hot-ticket item on Amazon that the general public began to take notice.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, more than 855,860 drones are registered in the United States today – and companies like DroneCorps are taking advantage of this booming industry to create job opportunities.
Here’s how the one-year licensed unmanned vehicle pilot training program works:
Students accepted into DroneCorps attend a five-week onsite session where they get their FAA 107 license. They receive 200 hours of instruction, and earn $15 an hour for a total of $3,000.
Following their onsite training, students are sent home with high-tech tablets equipped with 5D technology accessible even without 3D glasses. Throughout their continued education, students earn increasing wages from $18 up to $24 an hour, as they conquer 2000 hours of distant learning USDOL core curriculum.
At the end of 12 months, Cadets in the Drone Corps graduate and are employed at $32 an hour. Financial aid options and scholarships are available for students. The tuition for the 12 month program is $15,000, and $5,000 for equipment and uniforms.
DroneCorps' first wave of more than 100 students starts June 6th, and Director General Jim Mikel is eager to greet his future pilots.
“This program symbolizes hope,” says Mikel, “hope for those who never imagined they could have a job that makes them $32 an hour.”
Mikel has spent the last several months recruiting for DroneCorps at various job fairs and high schools around Texas. He says he’s invited “graduating kids all the way up to a married couple in their 50s” to sign up for the program.
“I remember running into this one woman at a job fair. She looked frantic, to be honest. I pulled her aside and explained the program – and she immediately shot me down because she said she didn’t know how to use a computer.”
Then Mikel asked her if she knew how to type.
“She said yes, and I told her she was qualified to apply for our program. Her eyes lit up. She said, ‘I’m going to do this.”
Opening up dreams to people like her is the jet fuel that keeps Mikel going. He says he’s particularly interested in reaching people in vocational rehabilitation who are homebound and, therefore, lack job opportunities.
“We can bring the world to them and give them a semblance of a normal life.”
Creating the hands-on and classroom learning programming for DroneCorps was a collaborative effort, resulting in 2000 hours of core curriculum that will get students up in the air from the comfort of their homes. To create effective programming, Mikel says he put himself in the shoes of a high schooler who had just gone through the throws of the pandemic.
“I asked myself how I could coordinate something similar to a video game, something that would get people interested,” he says.
DroneCorps decided to use Apprentix as its apprenticeship software because of its user-friendly design, especially for customizing curriculum. Their long-term goal is to automate all of their processes through Apprentix, so programming runs smoother and is optimized for reporting to the US Department of Labor.
One of the most unique aspects of the DroneCorps training program is the job prospect versatility. Students can “industry hack” professions that would otherwise be difficult to break into, such as movie production.
DroneCorps lists various career options on their websites, such as flying drones for archaeological digs, underwater discoveries, robotics organizations, dance studios, musical productions, residential inspections, and more.
“We’re building a worldwide community with a common goal – to move our country into the 21st century through the use of autonomy in every industry,” says Mikel.
Launching DroneCorps is a dream 13 years in the making for Mikel – one that he’s put a lot of heart and love into, or as he’d call it, “LUV.”
“Apprenticeships date back to Roman times,” he says. “We wouldn’t have the life and infrastructure we enjoy now if it were not for apprentices.”
But DroneCorps' mission goes beyond training people for the workforce. Mikel says he chose each vocation with intention – if it makes the world a better place, it goes on the roster.
“Changing the world means using ‘LUV’ by cleaning waterways with new technologies, growing crops better, safer, faster, implementing pay that you can actually live on comfortably, assisting the accessibly hindered, and helping people that need help in the world remotely.”
To learn more about enrolling in DroneCorps, visit their website.
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